The Runaway Maid is Loved by the Archmage - Chapter 67
Tok. Tok. Tok…
The sound of water droplets falling in steady intervals echoed through the darkness. It was the only sound he could hear in this place, for however much time had passed.
Meals were distributed irregularly, entirely dependent on the whims of the prison guards. It was not uncommon to go an entire day without a single bite to eat. His sense of time was gradually fading.
A prison barred with cold iron. A solitary confinement cell where not a single soul resided. Aside from the slimy moss and the occasional centipede scuttling by, no other living creatures could be found. The only human he encountered was the assigned guard, who carried out his duties with a vacant expression, never once responding to his words.
Roberto, who had tormented Ethan with relentless torture, trampled him underfoot, and subjected him to unspeakable violence, had one day sneered at him and disappeared. He had left him completely alone.
And this solitude inflicted upon him a terror and helplessness far greater than any physical abuse.
Lady Roina… she must have escaped safely.
That was his only consolation.
But deep within his heart, another voice lurked.
A voice that was wretchedly heavy, as if submerged in a murky swamp.
— She must be blissfully ignorant. Enjoying her happiness, bought at the cost of your sacrifice.
“This was my choice,” he shot back firmly.
But the voice clung to him, persistent, like tar seeping into every crevice of his mind.
— But truthfully, didn’t you wish she would acknowledge your sacrifice? Poor thing. You’ve always been the one to give and never receive.
“No.”
His denial was weary, but the voice continued to creep in, dredging up the very thoughts he had long refused to confront.
As a warrior and heir of the Kingdom of Castrelo, he had disgraced himself by surrendering to the Empire.
I had no choice if I wanted to protect my family and my people.
— And do you think they’re living well? After your betrayal, do you truly believe the Imperial Crown Prince left them be?
“Stop.”
— Brother! How could you?! Was that woman more important than us? You barely even knew her!
“Stop.”
— So this is the price for selling us to the enemy? Is that all we ever meant to you, Your Highness?
“Stop…”
— I am disappointed in you, Ethan.
“No…”
— She will never come back to you. What a pathetic sight, Ethan. You abandoned us, only to be abandoned yourself.
“STOP!!!”
His desperate scream rang through the cell, but in its wake, only laughter resounded in his ears.
Cackling. Mocking. Twisting around him like a viper tightening its coils.
The voice gnawed at his mind, spreading like a damp, insidious shadow. It latched onto him like a leech, refusing to be torn away. No matter how many times he tried to shake it off, it clung to him, leaving deep, invisible wounds.
It was as if it sought to drag him into the abyss.
This is not the truth. It is nothing more than a hallucination.
Ethan clutched his head with both hands and curled in on himself.
He repeated over and over that the voice held no substance.
That it was not real.
The most agonizing truth was that this hallucination had not simply appeared out of nowhere. It had always been lurking in the darkest depths of his heart, waiting for the perfect opportunity to surface.
His body trembled beyond his control.
His goddess was now etched into his mind as a figure turning her back on him and walking away. The way she had once spoken to him, the expression with which she had looked at him—those memories were slowly fading.
No.
Desperation gripped him as he struggled in torment. His mind was collapsing, piece by piece.
Clatter—clang. Clink.
The sound of iron bars sliding open. The noise of something being placed on the ground.
Rations.
Ethan sluggishly lifted his head. This was the only time when his thoughts were momentarily silenced.
Though the shackles binding his wrists and ankles restricted his movements, eating would at least restore some strength. If he could muster the energy, he would attempt even a small bit of exercise.
That was what he told himself.
With unfocused eyes, Ethan glanced toward the ration tray—then, in the next instant, his vision snapped wide open.
What lay before him was not food.
“Urk—”
A woman’s severed head, contorted in pain, lay discarded on the ground.
Her hair was disheveled, her appearance filthy. But Ethan knew. He knew how elegant, how noble and intelligent this head had once appeared.
“The people must live. Only then can there be a future. You were not wrong.”
She was someone he had respected. Someone he had loved.
When he had sworn allegiance to the Kailum Empire, she had been the one to silently stand by his decision, more steadfast than anyone else.
“…M-Mother.”
A beast-like howl tore from his throat.
No one bore witness to his anguish.
Collapsed on the cold stone floor, he roared in agony, swallowed whole by the darkness.
At that moment, he abandoned his humanity.
And no one could fault him for it.
